28 ESSEX SOCIETY. 



ative value of oats and rye for feed. Where I sow rye, I also 

 sow timothy at the same time, six quarts of seed to the acre ; 

 and in March or April, sow six pounds of clover seed on the 

 snow, and let the rain cover it. 



Andover, Oct. 22, 1845. 



Fruit Trees. 



The Committee on Nurseries of Fruit Trees, John M. Ives, 

 Chairman, recommended that the first premium, of ten dollars, 

 and Colman's European Agriculture, be awarded to Joshua H. 

 Ordway, of West Newbury ; and the second premium, of ten 

 dollars, to Ephraim Woods, of Salem. 



Joshua H. Ordway' s Statement. 



The trees, to which I would call your particular attention, are 

 two lots of apple, one lot of from fifteen to eighteen hundred, 

 two and three years old from the bud, the other of twenty-five 

 hundred, one year from the bud, stocks four from seed, trans- 

 planted when two years old. 



The following was the course pursued in raising the last 

 named lot, which is, I think, the best method, on a soil like 

 mine, which is rather difficult to cultivate, being a hard gravel 

 and slate, with a strong clay subsoil, naturally ill adapted for 

 raising trees or fruit. In the autumn of 1841, I ploughed about 

 fifteen rods of land, eight inches deep, where corn grew that 

 season, spread two loads of fine barn yard manure on the sur- 

 face, and harrowed it smooth ; I then, by line, made shallow 

 drills three feet apart, into which I scattered pomace, as taken 

 from the mill, sufficiently thick, covering it lightly, not exceed- 

 ing half an inch deep ; the trees came up well, were hoed seve- 

 ral times, the unhealthy ones taken out. In two seasons, they 

 made a good uniform growth. In the spring of 1844, they, be- 

 ing two years old, were transplanted (first cutting off the tap 

 root), in rows four feet apart, ten inches from each other, care 

 being taken to select those of uniform size and thrift ; the re- 

 mainder are set on another lot, not being of sufficient size to 

 bud. 



